73 
1830-40] ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 
That Reichenbach’s transit circle, mounted at the Gottingen 
Observatory about 1819, was not adopted, is not strange, since the 
construction was rather weak ; but these faults were remedied in 
Repsold’s form of the instrument. 
But however mistaken this policy may have been, there was 
now everywhere a strong desire to make the utmost of every 
instrument, and to study and allow for its imperfections. There 
are several striking examples of this in papers published by the 
Society; see, for instance, Sheepshanks’ paper on the Cape Mural 
Circle. From the miscroscope readings at every tenth degree 
made by Fallows, the first astronomer there, Sheepshanks found 
that the circle had received some injury, but that the mean of the 
six miscroscopes was quite to be relied on.* This was afterwards 
confirmed by Henderson from readings of every 5 0 . f A very 
thorough investigation of the Armagh mural circle by Robinson 
also appeared in volume 9 of the Memoirs. 
About this time transit instruments were often put to a use 
which, for some years, threatened to absorb a disproportionate 
amount of time. This was observing moon-culminating stars to 
determine the longitude of the observatory, or of some station 
where corresponding observations were made. Considering the 
exceedingly rough results obtained, it is strange that this method 
could remain in favour for some years, even for want of another. 
But it was not realised that there was no security even in a great 
number of observations. Thus, Robinson found for the longitude 
of Armagh, after allowing for irradiation, 26 m 30 s, 4, which he 
thought could not be more than o s -i wrong.$ In reality it was 
5 s too small. The determination of difference of longitude by the 
transport of chronometers, which was first tried between Greenwich 
and Cambridge in 1828, gradually ousted the moon-culminating 
stars from fixed observatories. 
During most of the time he spent at Greenwich, Pond only 
observed a small number of standard stars (40 to 60) and published 
several small catalogues of them. In the Greenwich Observations 
for 1829 he published a catalogue of 720 stars for the epoch of 
1830, the largest catalogue based on observations made in England 
after Bradley’s time. Of Johnson’s catalogue of 606 southern 
stars, observed at St. Helena, we have already spoken. The next 
catalogue to be published in England was one of the Right Ascen 
sions (only) of 1318 stars, observed at Lord Wrottesley’s Observa 
tory at Blackheath.§ Mention must also be made of another 
small star catalogue by an amateur, which, though published in 
* Memoirs, 5 , 325 - 339 , and M.N., 2 , 91-n 
abstract. 
f Memoirs, 8, 141-168. 
The latter is not a mere 
§ Ibid,., 10 , 157-234. 
t Ibid., 4 , 293 seq.